Orange Juice - "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2014/1982 (Domino)

Orange Juice was a band from Scotland and was the leading light on the independent Scottish label Postcard.  First of all, no other group was cuter than Orange Juice.  The four young men were all pin-up material, and Edwyn Collins their 'perhaps' leader was striking in his pouty sensual lips and hair over one eye.   Their music was guitar driven but layered and extremely textural. It hints of the band Television, but to me, I hear two other groups influences on their first album "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever."   They are The Velvet Underground, and the other is The Feelies. 

To be specific The Velvets intimate third album, due to the intimacy of their sound, but also the beautiful guitar playing by Sterling Morrison and Lou Reed.  There is the conversational quality of Reed's lyrics that are very much part of Collins' writing as well.  Lou is direct, and Edwyn has a touch of Noel Coward commenting on a relationship in disaster or changed by circumstances.  With respect to The Feelies, and I'm specifically talking about their first album, I hear the interplay of the guitars that build up and then there's a melodic part that opens up the music in a fashion that is beautiful and feminine.  Which is an odd thing to say about a guitar band of all young guys, but there is a strong sense of not power, but the surge of melodies that come through like a sun breaking through the clouds. 

Orange Juice "The Orange Juice (The Third Album)" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 2013/1984 (Domino)

One, and not too far in the distant past there used to be bands that were both tuneful and literary.  Scotland's Orange Juice was one of those bands, and with leader Edwyn Collins' remarkable skills as a songwriter, but also a gentleman who appreciates pop music culture from the not-so-far past, at the time of this recording, which was in 1984.   Orange Juice brings up the idea of a crooning Al Green, or some other Memphis soul artist, as well as Neil Young in his electric guitar phrase.  The combination of those two make up the sound of Orange Juice, but of course, with a very post-punk attitude.

"The Orange Juice" or sometimes known as "The Third Album" was the band's last full-length album.  And one that had only two members at the time of this recording, along with Collins there's the drummer Zeke Manyika.  "The Third Album" is produced by Dennis Bovell, who was known in the 1980s for his 'dub' production work for bands like The Slits and The Pop Group.   His work has always been dub music, but also the more experimental British bands and artists.  So, the fact that Edwyn and company are using Bowell's services is an interesting collaboration, since Orange Juice is basically a guitar-pop band, with a rather traditional manner.  Or are they?  Again, Edwyn Collins has a very Scottish white soul croon, but his lyrics are also very sophisticated in the tradition of Cole Porter and Lorenz Hart.  One can criticize his writing as being a tad post-modern in a sense his work is very much about the 'songwriting,' but he's equally skilled in putting a stunning melody along with his words.  When you add it all up, they are lovely songs about communication among lovers or a commentary on the world of Edwyn Collins.

Clearly, an artist who has a record collection, and its the love of music or certain types of pop songs that makes Orange Juice very enjoyable.  "The Orange Juice" is a solid work that is a tribute to the power of pop songs, but also an individual approach to the art as well.